Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American wrestler who has recently left World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)and is currently signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). As one half of The Hardy Boyz with older brother Matt, Jeff captured the World Tag Team Championship six times from 1999 to 2007 and the WCW World Tag Team Championship once. He is also a multi-time Intercontinental Champion. Wrestling history World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1998-2003) The Hardy Boyz (1998–2002) The Hardy brothers eventually caught the eyes of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After being signed to a contract in 1998, they were trained by Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo with other notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Test, and A-Train. When the team was finally brought up to WWF television, after months of 'jobbing' and house events, they formed the acrobatic tag team called the Hardy Boyz. While feuding with The Brood in mid-1999, they added Michael Hayes as their manager. On July 5, they won their first WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating the Acolytes, but lost it back to them a month later. After the dissolution of the Brood, the Hardys joined forces with Gangrel as the The New Brood and feuded with Edge and Christian. This stable did not last long, however, and on October 17, 1999 at No Mercy, the Hardy Boyz won the managerial services of Terri Runnels in the finals of the Terri Invitational Tournament in the WWF's first ever tag team ladder match against Edge and Christian. In 2000, the Hardy Boyz found a new manager in their real-life friend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme". They continued their feud with Edge and Christian throughout 2000, defeating them for the WWF Tag Team Titles on two occasions. At SummerSlam the Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC match), for the Tag Team Titles against the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful. Hardy gained attention for his high risk stunts in the TLC matches in the year 2000, 2001, and 2002. He made a name for himself as one of the most seemingly reckless and unorthodox WWF performers of his time. In 2001, Hardy received a push as a singles competitor, and he held the WWF Intercontinental (defeating Triple H), Light Heavyweight (defeating Jerry Lynn) and Hardcore Championships (defeating Mike Awesome and Van Dam on two separate occasions). At the end of 2001, the Hardys began a storyline in which they began to fight, which led to Matt demanding a match at Vengeance, with Lita as special guest referee.31 After Hardy beat Matt at Vengeance, while Matt's foot was on the ropes, Hardy and Lita began feuding against Matt. In the middle of the feud, however, Hardy faced The Undertaker in a Hardcore Title match and lost. After the match, the Undertaker was scripted to attack both Hardy and Lita, injuring them. On the next edition of SmackDown!, the Undertaker also attacked Matt, also injuring him, in storyline.34 The Hardys and Lita were not seen again until the Royal Rumble, because WWE did not have another storyline for their characters. The Hardys later came back as a team, and there was never any mention of their previous storyline split. In early April 2002, the Hardy Boyz began a feud with Brock Lesnar after Lesnar gave Matt an F-5 on the steel entrance ramp, which led to an angered Hardy seeking revenge on Lesnar. At Backlash, Hardy faced-off against Lesnar in his first televised match. Lesnar dominated Hardy and won the match by knockout. Lesnar and the Hardys continued to feud over the next few weeks, with the Hardys coming out victorious only once by disqualification.39 At Judgment Day, Lesnar gained the upper hand on the Hardy Boyz before tagging his partner, Paul Heyman, in to claim the win for the team. In July 2002, Hardy won his third Hardcore Championship by defeating Bradshaw. Singles competition (2002–2003) After years in the tag team division, Hardy took on The Undertaker in a Ladder match for the Undisputed Championship. Hardy came up short, but earned the Undertaker's respect. Hardy competed for singles titles on several occasions and defeated William Regal for the WWE European Championship. Hardy was defeated a few weeks later by Rob Van Dam in a match to unify the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, and the European Championship was dropped. Finally, the Hardy Boyz split apart, as Hardy continued to pursue his singles ambitions on Raw and his brother, Matt was drafted to SmackDown!. In January 2003, he had a brief heel turn that began after he attacked Van Dam and Shawn Michaels. It ended a month later when he saved Stacy Keibler from an attack by then-heel, Christian. In February, he had a brief program with Michaels, which saw the two team up. Then, in storyline, Hardy hooked up with Trish Stratus after saving her from Steven Richards and Victoria in March. Hardy and Stratus had a brief on-screen relationship that saw the duo talking backstage, kissing, and teaming together in matches. Hardy, however, was released from WWE on April 22, 2003. The reasons given for the release were Hardy's erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab, deteriorating ring performance, as well as constant tardiness and no-showing events. Hardy also cites "burn out" and the need for time off as reasons for leaving WWE. Time off and independent circuit (2003) Hardy made his first wrestling appearance after being released from WWE at an OMEGA, on May 24. Using his old gimmick, "Willow the Wisp", Hardy challenged Krazy K for the OMEGA Cruiserweight Championship, but lost the match. Hardy performed with the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion on one occasion. Hardy appeared at ROH's 2003 show, Death Before Dishonor, under his "Willow the Wisp" gimmick, wearing a mask and trench coat. Hardy was quickly unmasked and lost his jacket, wearing attire similar to that he wore in WWE. Hardy was booed and heckled before, during, and after the match by the ROH audience, who chanted "We want Matt!" and "You were fired!" during his match with Joey Matthews and Krazy K, which Hardy won. Hardy then took a whole year off of wrestling to concentrate on motocross and finish his motocross track. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2006) Hardy debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on June 23, 2004, at the Second Anniversary Show, in a match against TNA X Division Champion A.J. Styles, for the title. He also debuted his new entrance theme "Modest", a song performed by Hardy himself, and his new nickname "The Charismatic Enigma". The match ended in a no-contest when Kid Kash and Dallas interfered. Hardy returned to TNA on July 21 and was awarded a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy challenged for the title on September 8, losing to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. In October 2004, he won a tournament, earning a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on November 7 at Victory Road. Hardy was defeated by Jarrett once again in a ladder match at Victory Road following interference from Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. One month later at Turning Point, Hardy, Styles and Randy Savage defeated Jarrett, Hall and Nash (collectively known as the Kings of Wrestling). Hardy went on to defeat Hall in a singles match, substituting for Hector Garza at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005. At Against All Odds in February 2005, Hardy lost to Abyss in a "Full Metal Mayhem" match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy returned the favor by defeating Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Destination X in March. Hardy then went on to feud with Raven, with Hardy booked to defeat Raven in a steel cage match at Lockdown in April. Hardy was suspended from TNA after no-showing his "Clockwork Orange House of Fun" rematch with Raven at Hard Justice on May 15, allegedly due to travel difficulties. Hardy's suspension was lifted on August 5, and he returned at Sacrifice approximately a week later, attacking Jeff Jarrett. He wrestled his first TNA match in four months at Unbreakable on September 11, losing to Bobby Roode following interference from Jarrett. Throughout October 2005, Hardy became embroiled in a feud with Abyss, Rhino and Sabu. The four way feud culminated in a Monster's Ball match at Bound for Glory on October 23, which Rhino won after delivering a second rope Rhino Driver to Hardy. In the course of the match, Hardy delivered a Swanton Bomb to Abyss from a height of approximately seventeen feet (5.18 m). Later that night, Hardy competed in a ten-man battle royal for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which Rhino also won. At Genesis in November, Hardy lost to Monty Brown in another number one contender match. Hardy was scheduled to wrestle on the pre-show of Turning Point in December 2005, but once again no-showed the event, again citing traveling problems. Hardy was suspended as a result and did not appear on TNA television again. In March, April, and May 2006, Hardy appeared on several house shows promoted by TNA in conjunction with Dave Hebner and the United Wrestling Federation. World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2009) Return (2006) On August 4, 2006, WWE announced that Hardy had re-signed with the company. In the following weeks, vignettes aired hyping his return on the August 21 episode of Raw. On the day of his return, Hardy received a push and defeated then-WWE Champion Edge by disqualification when Lita pulled Edge out of the ring. After failing to capture the Intercontinental Championship from Johnny Nitro over the next few weeks, including at Unforgiven, Hardy finally defeated Nitro to win his second Intercontinental Championship on the October 2 edition of Raw. On the November 6 episode of Raw, Hardy lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Nitro, after Nitro hit him with the Intercontinental Championship title belt. One week later, Hardy regained it on the November 13 edition of Raw, with a crucifix pin. This marked Hardy's third reign as Intercontinental Champion. The Hardys reunion (2006–2007) On the November 21 episode of ECW Hardy teamed with his brother Matt for the first time in almost five years to defeat the Full Blooded Italians. At Survivor Series, they both were a part of Team DX, which gained the victory over Team Rated-RKO with a clean sweep. The brothers then received their first opportunity since Hardy's return to win a tag team championship. They competed in a 4-team Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, but they came up short in their attempt. In the course of the match, however, they inadvertently legitimately injured Joey Mercury's face. With Hardy still feuding with Johnny Nitro and MNM into 2007, he was challenged once again by Nitro at New Year's Revolution in a Steel Cage match for the Intercontinental Championship. Hardy once again defeated Nitro. Hardy then teamed with Matt to defeat MNM at both the Royal Rumble and No Way Out. The next night on Raw, February 19, Hardy was defeated for the Intercontinental title by Umaga. In April 2007, Hardy competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23. During the match, Matt threw Edge onto a ladder and encouraged Hardy, who was close to the winning briefcase, to finish him off.86 Hardy then leaped off the ladder nearly twenty feet, drove Edge through the ladder with a leg drop, seemingly injuring both Edge and himself. The two were unable to continue the match and were removed from ringside on stretchers. The next night on Raw, April 2, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles after eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. They then began a feud with Cade and Murdoch, with the Hardys retaining the Championships in their first title defense against them at Backlash and again at Judgment Day. The Hardys, however, dropped the titles to Cade and Murdoch on June 4 on Raw. The Hardys earned a rematch at Vengeance but were defeated. Main event status In the midst of feuding with Umaga, who defeated Hardy at The Great American Bash to retain the Intercontinental Championship in late July, Hardy was abruptly taken off WWE programming. He posted on his own website and in the forums of The Hardy Show.com that it was time off to heal, stemming from a bad fall taken in a match against Mr. Kennedy on the July 23 edition of Raw. He made his return on the August 27 edition of Raw beating Kennedy by disqualification after Umaga interfered. The following week, on September 3, Hardy successfully captured his fourth Intercontinental Championship by defeating Umaga for the title. This was the start of a push for Hardy, and at Survivor Series, Hardy and Triple H were the last two standing to win the traditional elimination match. Hardy began an on and off tag team with Triple H, which eventually led to a respectful feud between the two. The feud continued at Armageddon, when Hardy defeated Triple H to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship. In the weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Randy Orton engaged in a personal feud. It began when Orton kicked Hardy's brother, Matt, in the head in the storyline. Hardy, in retaliation, Swanton Bombed Orton from the top of the Raw set and seemed to have all the momentum after coming out on top in their encounters. Hardy, however, lost the title match at the Royal Rumble, but was named as one of six men to compete in an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, where he survived to the final two before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Triple H. During the March 3 edition of Raw, Hardy appeared on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel" segment as a special guest, but ended up delivering a Twist of Fate to Jericho. This led to an Intercontinental title match on the following Raw where Hardy dropped the title to Jericho. Off-screen, Hardy dropped the title after he was suspended for sixty days, as of March 11, for his second violation of the company's Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. Hardy was also removed from the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV after the suspension was announced. Hardy returned on the May 12 edition of Raw, defeating Umaga via pinfall. This reignited the feud between the two, and they met in a Falls Count Anywhere match at One Night Stand, which Hardy won. WWE Champion and Feud with Edge and Matt Hardy At the 2008 Survivor Series after months of being in the title chase Hardy finally looked like he would have a good shot and winning the title in a triple threat against Triple H and Vladimir Koslov. However, the night before the pay-per-view, Hardy was attacked. Edge then returned and captured the WWE Championship. It was rumoured that Edge was the one behind the attacks. Around the time Christian made his return it was rumoured he would come back as a heel and team up with brother Edge and be behind the attack on Hardy. At the 2008 Armageddon, Hardy faced Triple H and Edge in a Triple-Threat Match for the WWE Championship. Hardy won the title after hitting the Swanton Bomb on Edge, while Triple H was outside the ring. In the weeks following Armageddon, Hardy had a number of "accidents" such as his entrance pyrotechnics hitting him in the face, being run off the road by a speeding car and his house setting on fire. Although the WWE never confirmed that these incidents were anything other than accidents, the fans believed that Hardy's rival, and number-one contender to his title, Edge, was behind the attacks. At the 2009 Royal Rumble Edge got a rematch against Hardy, but before the match started, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero (and Edge's wife) announced that it would be no-disqualification match. Towards the end of the match, Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb on Edge and went for the pin, but Vickie pulled the referee out of the ring. Matt Hardy then came to the ring and placed a steel chair under Edge's head and instructed Jeff to hit the move called the Con-Chair-To. As Jeff was about to hit Edge with another chair, Matt smashed his brother in the head with the steel chair, and Edge covered Jeff to regain the WWE Championship. On the SmackDown following the Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy came out and announced that it was him who was behind the attacks on his brother, and that he felt no remorse about it. He also said that he felt that he didn't have a brother any more. At No Way Out 2009, Hardy battled in the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship against Champion Edge, Triple H, Big Show, Vladimir Kozlov and The Undertaker. Hardy and Edge started the match, and Hardy eliminated the champion after less than five minutes. Hardy was then eliminated by Undertaker after a Tombstone Piledriver. Jeff then started a feud with his brother matt after he cost him the world title, they were set to face each other in a street fight match but jeff refused to fight his brother, they would then have oppotunities to compete in the Money in the bank ladder match but both lost in a one on one match against MVP and then WWE United States Champion Shelton Benjamin. They would then face each other at Wrestlemania XXV which Jeff lost. One week later Matt would then get drafted to the RAW brand, despite the draft the feud continued until Backlash which they would face each other in a I Quit match, which Jeff won. Second & Third World title reigns After that Jeff would then win a fatal four way match to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, which featured Chris Jericho, Kane and Rey Mysterio. Jeff faced Edge at Judgment Day, which he lost after a distraction from Matt Hardy. Jeff would get another shot at the world title defeating Edge in a one on one match to determine the stipulation for the match at Extreme Rules, which jeff won and made the match a ladder match, Jeff would win at Extreme Rules winning his second and shortest world reign due to CM Punk cashing in his Money in the bank contract briefcase to win the title. On a RAW episode that aired on June 15th, CM Punk retained the title after Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb on Edge and Punk took advantage of the Swanton Bomb's damage. Hardy lost to CM Punk at the Bash by disqualification. Therefore, Punk regained his title. At WWE Night of Champions Jeff won his rematch against Cm Punk to regain the World Heavyweight Championship. Jeff would then have his first title defense against John Morrison which Jeff won. The next week he would defend against CM Punk which Matt (recently traded back to the smackdown brand) would be the special guest enforcer in which Jeff would win after matt fast counted the pinfall, Jeff would again face CM Punk this time in a TLC match at Summerslam which he lost, after the match The Undertaker replaced Jeff under CM Punk. 'Departure' Jeff would then get his rematch against CM Punk on smackdown in a steel cage match where the title was on the line and also there careers, which Jeff lost, after the he gave a farewell speech in which he would announce he would return but didn't say when, he would then get attacked by CM Punk. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010) Unexpected Return On the January 4th edition of TNA in an attempt to compete with the WWE;Jeff Hardy made a shocking return after the Steel Asylum Match, but was attacked by Homicide. Hardy retaliated with a chair to the head and a Twist of Fate on the ramp (As seen in video below). The following day, Hardy was reported to have signed a contract with TNA. Due to his alleged drugs case, it may take some time before Hardy's return to the ring. Jeff later appeared in backstage segments throughout the evening. The following day, it was reported that he had signed a new contract with TNA (along with Shannon Moore). He would make his next appearance for the company on the March 8 Monday night edition of Impact!, saving D'Angelo Dinero, Abyss and Hulk Hogan from A.J. Styles, Ric Flair and Desmond Wolfe. The following week Hardy defeated the TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles in a non-title match. Trivia *At the age of 23, Hardy became the youngest WWF Intercontinental champion. *Jeff Hardy and his brother Matt design their own ring outfits together. *There's a man-made volcano in Hardy's front lawn, which he sets ablaze to use as a motocross ring. *Fellow wrestler Shannon Moore is his Peroxwhy?gen bandmate. *One of Hardy's favorite Wrestlemania moments is his first WrestleMania when he climbed to the very top of a ladder and swanton bombed a table with Bubba Ray Dudley on it. Quotes Wrestling facts *'Finishing moves' :*'Reverse of Fate' (Inverted facelock neckbreaker slam) :*''Spine Line'' (Armlock Cloverleaf) - OMEGA; used as a regular move in TNA :*'Swanton Bomb' (High Angle Senton Bomb) :*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmu4ieF8Alk Twist of Fate] (Front Facelock Cutter) *'Signature moves' :*Arm Drag :*Diving clothesline from off a barricade :*Double knee facebreaker - 2002-2003 :*''Hardyac Arrest'' (Rope aided corner dropkick) :*Horizontal baseball slide :*Leg-feed spinning mule kick :*Multiple leg drop variations :**Double to the opponent's groin or midsection, sometimes preceded by a double leg takedown :**Double into a roll-up pin, sometimes preceded by a Russian legsweep :**''Leapfog Leg Drop'' (Positioned at the top rope or on another ladder, Hardy performs a diving leg drop after leapfrogging over a ladder) :*Plancha :*Sitout inverted suplex slam :*Sitout jawbreaker :*Snap reverse powerbomb – 2008 :*Snap reverse STO – TNA :*Springboard moonsault :*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-GpIL8UtWE Whisper in the Wind] (Corkscrew Senton), usually to a standing opponent, originally into a wheel kick *With Matt Hardy :*'Finishing moves' :**''Event Omega'' (Simultaneous diving guillotine leg drop (Matt) / diving splash (Jeff) combination)) :**''Omega Event'' (Simultaneous diving guillotine leg drop (Matt) / leg drop to the groin (Jeff) combination)) :**''Twist of Fate'' by Matt followed by a Swanton Bomb by Jeff :*'Signature moves' :**Double 180 flipping belly to back suplex :**''Poetry in Motion'' -innovated :**''Rapture'' (Simultaneous superbomb (Jeff) / neckbreaker slam (Matt) combination) :**''Wrist-lock sitout side slam|Side Effect'' by Matt followed by a Whisper in the Wind by Jeff :**''Spin Cycle'' (Simultaneous fist drop (Matt) / standing somersault senton (Jeff) combination) *'Nicknames' :*'"The Charismatic Enigma"' :*'"The Rainbow-Haired Warrior"' :*'"The Legend Thriller"' :*'"The Extreme Enigma"' :*"'The Strange Enigma''" "'''The Creature of the Night" Nicknames for fans :*"Creatures Of The Night" *'''Notable feuds :*Matt Hardy :*Edge :*CM Punk :*Triple H :*Umaga :*Chris Jericho :*Randy Orton :*The Dudley Boyz :*Edge and Christian :*Brock Lesnar :*The Followers of Mattitude :*Rob Van Dan :*Eddie Guerrero :*Johnny Nitro :*Jeff Jarrett :*A.J. Styles :*Abyss :*Raven :*The Kings of Wrestling Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch *'Tag teams and stables' :*The Hardy Boyz - with Matt Hardy :*Team Xtreme - with Matt Hardy and Lita :*New Brood - with Matt Hardy and Gangrel :*Enigmatic Assholes - with Mr. Anderson *'Managers' :*Lita (WWF/'WWE') (2000-2002) :*Michael Hayes (WWF) (1999) :*Terri (WWF) *'Wrestlers trained' :*Caprice Coleman :*Kirby Mack :*Lexie Fyfe :*Lita :*Shannon Moore *'Theme music' :*"Loaded" by Zack Tempest (extrememusic.com) (WWE) :*"No More Words" by Endeverafter (WWE) :*"Modest" by Peroxwhy?gen (TNA) :*"Blood" by James Alan Johnston (WWE/F) =Championships and accomplishments= *'Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts' :*OMEGA New Frontiers Champion (1 time) (First) :*OMEGA Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Matt Hardy *'World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment' :*World Heavyweight Champion (2 times) :*WWE Champion (1 time) :*WWF/E World Tag Team Champion (6 times) - with Matt Hardy :*WCW Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Matt Hardy :*WWF/E Intercontinental Champion (4 times) :*WWE European Champion (1 time) :*WWF Hardcore Champion (3 times) :*WWF Light Heavyweight Champion (1 time) :*18th WWE Triple Crown Champion :*9th WWE Grand Slam Champion :*Slammy Award for Extreme Moment of the Year (2008) :*2009 Slammy Awards - Extreme Moment of the Year - Jeff Hardy jumps from the ladder at SummerSlam 2009 onto CM Punk See also *Jeff Hardy’s event history *Jeff Hardy’s gimmicks External links *Jeff Hardy profile on TNAWrestling.com http://www.tnawrestling.com/roster/superstar-roster/item/1814-jeff-hardy *Jeff Hardy's MySpacehttp://www.myspace.com/jeffnerohardy1977 References Category:American wrestlers Category:East Coast Wrestling Association alumni Category:Fighting Investigation Team Battlarts alumni Category:Music City Wrestling alumni Category:Ohio Valley Wrestling alumni Category:Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts alumni Category:Ring of Honor alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling current roster Category:Ultimate Pro Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni